Chicago-Area Deli Owner: I ‘Felt Relief’ When I Heard Las Vegas Shooting Was At A Country Music Concert

Well, we have another instance of someone thinking that people who were shot at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas deserved it. That would be Greg Morelli of Max’s Deli in Highland Park, Illinois. The Chicago-area deli became the focus of controversy when Morelli tweeted, “Soon as I heard it was country music, I felt relief. White people shooting white people isn’t [sic] terror…it’s community outreach.” That tweet has since been deleted. It spurred a backlash, which prompted Morelli to issue an apology, which wasn’t well received. This isn’t his first he’s caused a firestorm with this political commentary either (via Fox News):

Both Morelli and the deli received harsh criticism because of the tweet, with people issuing death threats and leaving dozens of one-star reviews on Yelp.

One reviewer wrote: "The owner of this deli is a hateful, vile man who said the almost 600 ppl senselessly shot in LV deserved it."

People reacted on Twitter as well, calling for a boycott of the business.

"You are disgusting!! Hopefully the community reaches out to you and your business. Your hatred and bigotry does not belong in America!!" one Twitter user wrote.

Morelli took to Facebook Tuesday to issue an apology for his controversial tweet. “I own the words I wrote. They hurt people. I apologize,” he posted on the deli’s page.

“We live in a time of mass shootings. This is my mass apology … The thoughts have not worked. The prayers have not worked. What lead me to think Twitter was a good idea is beyond me. I simply do not know what to do about the shootings. Truly, I’m lost!” Morelli continued.

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“Save your breath with the phoney ‘apology,' Greggy,” one user wrote.

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his controversy comes just over a month after Morelli faced criticism for sharing a cartoon on Facebook in which a man resembling Donald Trump can be seen wearing a Nazi armband, a T-shirt reading "I'm with Alt-Right" and giving a "Heil Hitler" salute.

Hayley Geftman-Gold, a former executive at CBS, was also caught on social media making similar comments about the shooting, writing on Facebook “I’m actually not even sympathetic bc country music fans often are Republican gun toters.” The network fired her for her remarks.